Notre Dame's Kelly, a Red Sox fan, smiles through agony

With a broad grin likely masking some gastrointestinal turmoil endured for the previous 17 hours or so, Notre Dame coach Brian Kelly actually offered the first question of his post-practice media confab.

"You guys want to talk about the Red Sox, don’t you?" Kelly said.

Kelly, of course, was born in Everett, Mass., and raised in Chelsea, Mass., and attended high school and college in the state. He is a Red Sox fan, and all too keenly aware of the club's September collapse in which the Red Sox went 7-20 and lost a nine-game lead in the American League wild-card race.

And he's really trying to be happy for the Tampa Bay Rays.

"You know, really, the better story is Tampa Bay," Kelly said. "If you really think about it, what Joe Maddon has done with that team. I don’t know if you knew, but he had them dress up in 1950s garb and take the train from Boston to New York. During the last couple weeks. For me, I'm a team guy. So I like to hear good team stories."

Kelly then paused half a beat before adding the kicker.

"That's the only way I can look at it without jumping off my balcony," he said.